Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Many thanks to Pat from The Asian Grandmothers' Cookbook for giving me the opportunity to test some recipes for her upcoming book. The first recipe was for pad gkaprow mu, which required bai gkaprow, or holy basil, but bai horapa (Thai basil) is easier to find in Asian markets, so I used that instead. This dish is fabulously easy and I'm glad to have another dish to add to our weeknight repertoire.

The mise:

The most powerful component of this dish were the Thai chilies. I couldn't find red ones, so I used the green ones. It's basically a husk filled with tongue-numbing seeds. Don't be fooled by their small size. These peppers pack a punch.

The recipe starts off with toasting shallots and garlic in hot oil.The pork is added and cooked lightly. Fish sauce, oyster sauce, and brown sugar are added.

The Thai basil goes in last and everything is stirred until the basil is wilted.

The finished product:

Served with freshly cooked white rice:

D. and I enjoyed the dish quite a bit. The one thing we would want to see changed is the strength of the sauce. It tasted really good, but it was understated. Increasing the amounts of fish sauce/oyster sauce/sugar should do the trick. Seasoning the pork before cooking and adding more basil would help, too. I used fewer peppers than the recipe asked and it was still a bit overpowering. We reheated it the next day and it was awesome. After sitting overnight, the pork absorbed all of the flavors and had a more pungent kick to it.